Hitherto, those made of metal (mainly Al or stainless steel), ceramic, or a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic composite material (CFRP) have been used as transfer members for sheet workpieces such as liquid crystal substrates, printed circuit boards, and glass substrates, (Patent Documents 1 to 3). Metal or ceramic transfer members are heavy in weight and have disadvantages such as poor handleability and poor operability. The ceramic transfer members are brittle and have a problem with poor impact resistance.
In contrast, CFRP transfer members are lightweight and have high bending stiffness and excellent vibration damping properties. However, the CFRP transfer members have limited heat resistance due to a resin material and cannot be used in usage environments with a high temperature of 300° C. or higher.
On the other hand, carbon fiber-reinforced carbon composite materials (C/C composites) composed of carbon fibers and carbonaceous matrixes have high heat resistance, low weight, and excellent wear resistance and therefore have been mainly used as aerospace and aircraft materials such as rocket nozzle materials and aircraft brake materials (Patent Documents 4, 5, and 6).